Garden sheds can be beautiful on a budget. DIY open shelves made from real wood and metal shelf support brackets from a home improvement store gave my garden shed French Country elegance I love. 

White-washed wood shelves and gold-painted brackets coordinate with the fleur de lis topped mirror. Sturdy, functional, and beautiful elegance!

A list of materials and sources is at the end of the description of how these shelves were built. 

Garden Shed DIY New Shelves | Extra Space With a Touch of Elegance

New shelves in my backyard garden shed will provide needed storage/display space and some French elegance to the hard-working little shed. The French Country garden shed in my backyard began life as a utilitarian plywood garden shed. Then the little shed was transformed into a special Christmas retail shop for a French Country Christmas Event each December. 

After the Christmas sale each year, the little shed reverts to more of a garden shed with only a few Christmas items stored between the yearly Christmas events. Seed packets, flower pots, gardening cloches, and a fluffy long-haired concrete bunny take over the center table. 

Kitchen cotton towels with lavender and hydrangea designs replace the red-and-white Christmas towels with amaryllis, holly, and poinsettias.  

The French Country Christmas Event has grown over the years, and the shed is now packed each December with special finds that pass the test, "Would this live in my house?" Each year I have to look at the space and create vignettes to display all of the treasures so shoppers will be inspired with Christmas ideas for their own homes.    

The little garden shed needs more shelves! 

Pink Crepe Myrtle | Why Southern Gardeners Love Them

A stunning pink crepe myrtle tree grows on a small farmholding down a country road near me. The tree is an example of why crepe myrtles have been staples in Deep South gardens and yards for generations.  

For over twenty years I have admired the beautiful tree covered in fluffy pink blossoms as I travel from my home to the closest town for shopping. 

Eiffel Tower Telescopes | Elegant French Style

A Moment In France

Remembering Paris in the rain with gold and silver telescopes on the Eiffel Tower offers mental relief from the oppressive August temperatures in Texas and the oppressive confines of no travel during the pandemic in 2020. 

With no physical way to beat the heat by traveling in person, I am beating the heat by leisurely browsing through my photos of my last visit to Paris during a cool month in September. 

As I came upon a group of rainy-day photos, I paused to stare off into the heat-searing whitened blue skies and remembered a visit to the Eiffel Tower with my sister, just the two of us.  

The Eiffel Tower telescopes, dripping with rain under misty, overcast gray skies remind me of our travel schedules developed over the years. Whatever the weather, no outing was canceled. We dressed for the weather and proceeded with our day optimistically, promising ourselves, and any companions, we would have a good time. 

French Prints Shadowbox | Tips for Creating Your Own

 A Paper Series Post 

Create a shadowbox with reproduction watercolor French prints to add an inexpensive French country look to any room in your house. By using prints collected during a trip with family or friends, your shadowbox will also remind you of special memories. 

Read about how I created a blue and white shadowbox to hang in my bedroom and get ideas for your own shadowbox. I have a few tips for finding small prints to use, for how to arrange the prints, and for using special items to add a little pizzazz! 

Reproduction watercolor prints in soft blues, greens, and neutrals go well with most French country decor.